Governor’s Welfare Overhaul Rejected

The Health and Human Services Committee nixed the governor’s measure to require welfare applicants to show they’ve applied to three jobs before receiving benefits. Another bill rejected by the committee Wednesday would cut state reimbursements to some Maine cities for their municipal welfare programs.

The committee supported scaled-back versions of other LePage bills. The governor proposed to ban the use of electronic benefit transfer cards outside of Maine. The committee amended the measure to direct the state to investigate and prosecute the out-of-state use of EBT cards.

The committee also backed an amended version of a LePage proposal that would ban the use of EBT cards at smoke shops.